Fringe employee benefits: definition, and examples

Ben & Jerry’s, a Vermont-based ice cream company, offers a famous perk: each employee gets three free pints of ice cream daily.

From August 1, 2022, under the current system in Finland, both parents are entitled to parental leave of 164 days each after the child is born.

You may have heard of various kinds of benefits employees receive from organizations. The technical term for any type of non-monetary compensation provided to an employee is fringe benefits. Compensation outside the stated salary is a major part of reward and recognition packages. Fringe benefits might include wellness programs, free recreational vouchers, and educational assistance.

Let’s take a look at how fringe employee benefits differ from core benefits.

Any kind of reward scheme can help employees feel that their hard work is recognized, improving their self-esteem and sense of self-worth. While it may seem the only motivation for adding fringe benefits would be that happier employees will produce better results, there’s more to it. Take a look at how organizations can benefit from offering fringe employee benefits.

Often, employers offer unique fringe benefits to attract candidates. For example, employees at Zappos, an online shoe and clothing retailer, get an impressive 40% off across the entire store. One of the main ideas behind fringe employee benefits is that they make companies more attractive for potential employees. fringe employee benefits appeal to new talent, so advertising a company’s perks can make the company appeal to more potential employees.

Fringe benefits act as additional compensation, making an organization stand out and be seen as employee-friendly. Worthy benefits contribute to increased employee retention and minimize hiring costs. According to research by TalentLMS in collaboration with Enrich and Tapcheck, 78% of employees reported being more likely to stay with an employer because of their benefits program.

An important reason organizations should consider fringe benefits is that they can help to improve employees’ experience at work. Fringe benefits have been proven to alleviate some of the most common causes of stress among employees, such as healthcare and financial security. According to a MetLife Employee Benefit Trends study:

• 61% of employees say having access to emerging benefits would reduce their stress
• 53% say it would improve their financial wellness
• 52% say it would make them more loyal to their employer
• 49% say it would make them more interested in working for a company
• 49% say it would help them be more successful in both work and life

Innovative businesses like Amerisleep and Chartbeat have found new ways to offer employees fringe benefits. Here are some amazing fringe employee benefits you can offer to engage, motivate, and inspire employees.

Today, improving business productivity doesn’t mean limiting employees’ access to mobile devices or eliminating distractions in the office. Many of today’s most successful organizations have extremely modern work environments and happy employees. These environments may include flexible work hours, remote options, lenient dress codes, office ping pong tables, free snacks, team events, employee recognition programs, and more. A modern business is centered around the employee experience, which inevitably leads to a more successful, profitable, and productive organization.

Educational benefits and tuition assistance are highly desired by employees. These options have been found to aid employee retention and recruitment. Employees are excited to increase productivity when they receive opportunities for career development through training or other forms of learning.